Blooms are sculptures that animate when a camera captures them in motion at a certain frame rate—a common accidental example is the illusion of car hubcaps spinning “backwards” on video. John Edmark’s designs embody the mesmerizing precision of objects one would assume were computer-generated if we didn’t know better: reality itself seeming to simulate our simulation.
Unlike a 3D zoetrope, which animates a sequence of small changes to objects, a bloom animates as a single self-contained sculpture. The bloom’s animation effect is achieved by progressive rotations of the golden ratio, phi (ϕ), the same ratio that nature employs to generate the spiral patterns we see in pinecones and sunflowers. The rotational speed and strobe rate of the bloom are synchronized so that one flash occurs every time the bloom turns 137.5º (the angular version of phi).* Each bloom’s particular form and behavior is determined by a unique parametric seed I call a phi-nome (/fī nōm/). -John Edmark
Update: Previously!